Pink Elephants
by KyaniteD
Summary: Gail is too gail to do anything and Holly is seeing the wrong person. Cue Dov, savior of of Division 15.


_Disclaimer: No, I don't own it and yes, it's probably copyright infringement, but hey, I'm not making any money with it._

_Note: Just a thought I had to get out of my system and off my computer because I actually have to work. __I think it's gonna be random fluff._

* * *

"Doctor Stewart, I need to know what happened."

Dov was pacing on the other side of the slab while Holly inspected the bones he had unceremoniously dumped on the table.

She looked up and smiled apologetically.

"I'm sorry, Officer- uh," she glanced at his name tag, "Epstein?"

"Dov. Call me Dov."

She smiled, "Ok, Dov. You're from 15th, right?"

Not waiting for a response she pointed at the pile of bones in front of her. "This will take a while. I have to sort these bones first, figure out if it's really just one individual before I can even start to-"

Dove stopped pacing and looked at her. "No! No-, I mean-, of course _that_ is going to take a while. What I meant was, I need to know what happened between you and Gail."

This time she looked at him with undivided attention. Her eyes piercing through her glasses and boring into his skull. Pretty close to Gail's trademark look of intimidation.

"It's over." She smiled, but her smile never reached her eyes.

Dov let his shoulders slump slightly. "Yes, I know, we're all aware of that." He shrugged. "It's quite fascinating to see Gail whetting her sarcasm daggers on everyone while cuddling this pink elephant plush toy-"

Holly couldn't help but smile.

"- but it needs to stop. And I need to know what happened, like, what actually happened."

She shook her head in disbelief. "And, Dov, why exactly would that be any of your business?"

"Doc, it's really important, because one day she's all giggly and love-sick and happy, ready to skip fight night for you, telling me she's serious about you and the next day mentioning your name is triggering death glares." He clenched his jaws and added with emphasis, "like, really scary death glares."

Holly looked at him, considering a response, then just turned her attention back to the dirt-covered bones. "I still don't see why it's _your_ business."

Dov started to fidget with his hands. "Well, I'm her friend, and I may or may not have said a few things that may or may not have," he inhaled and stopped for a moment, "_affected_ her state of mind before she left to meet you at the Penny."

Holly tilted her head and looked at him curiously. "And what exactly did you say?"

Dove protested. "You first." And then he added, "I just want to know if what I said had anything to do with- it."

Holly walked around the table, facing him directly. Her voice was frighteningly calm and friendly. "No, I think you should start." She leaned back, crossing her arms in front of her, making it clear that she wouldn't budge on this one.

Dove knew better than to start an argument over this.

"Oh- Okay. Well, I may have said that if I were in your shoes, I would question her motives for being in this relationship and basically, that- that I wouldn't trust her to be serious about me- er, you. You know, she's been with men all her life - as far as I know - and then there's suddenly you and, you know, she's basically in rebound after breaking up with her former fiance and it- it may just be-"

Holly blinked and held up her hand to stop him.

"Nick was her fiance?"

"Uh yeah, she didn't tell you?"

"They were going to get married?"

"Well no, not this time, but before he enlisted, yes, he left her at the altar."

Holly turned around and walked over to a chair. She sat down and stared at the ground. "I didn't know that."

"Well, " Dov continued, "I don't think it was that serious this time. They were reconnecting, getting to know each other again and it seemed they were getting along, having fun... Gail was- she was nice. Friendly. She opened up."

"And they broke up again? Why?"

"I don't know the exact details, but it seems that Nick cheated on her with one of their friends."

"Ouch."

"Yes. Not pleasant. Totally awkward, in fact."

"Damn."

"So, will you tell me now what happened?"

"Dov, let me tell you first: It's not your fault, whatever you said, it's not your fault. You were looking out for her. Not in the smartest way, but you tried." She smiled at him reassuringly.

And she went on telling him about their evening at the Penny, recounting her friends' remarks regarding Gails' background, her job, her looks, and ultimately, she told him about her own failure to see where things were going, her failure to see how much they put Gail down, in a not-joking way and how she failed to stop it, how she brushed them off, assuring them no one would get hurt. That they were having fun.

Dov's revelations had put all that into a different perspective and from this new viewpoint things didn't seem so simple anymore.

"So what now"? Dov asked.

Holly adjusted her glasses. "I don't know. Very obviously what I said and what she heard have been very different things."

"Can't blame her, though. - Or you," he was quick to add. "I mean, you were happy, having fun, right?"

"Yes, but-"

"Yeah, I know, and Gail thought _just_ having fun. She saw you doing what I had put into her head. Only that I thought it would be the other way around. Like a self-fulfilling prophecy, only different. Twisted."

Holly shook her head with a resigned smile. "Dov, I don't think you could put anything into her head that wasn't already there."

"You're probably right." He brushed his hand through his hair and started pacing around the room, thinking aloud: "This is messed up. And it's nobody's fault. And Gail is too _Gail_ to do something about it. So we have to do something about it." He stopped and looked at Holly. "For the greater good of 15th. Seriously, she has us all on the edge right now, between worried and frightened. It has to stop. We have jobs to do."

Holly eyed him carefully. "It's not really that bad, is it?"

"It is," he assured her with a stern look. "I take it you have tried to talk to her?"

"I tried to call her for weeks but she never picked up or called back."

"No, I mean, did you try to talk to her. Like go to her, say 'hello' and talk to her?"

Holly shook her head.

"Message? Email?"

She bit her lip and mouthed a silent 'no'.

"Well, you have to go to her. It's easy to ignore a ringing phone, especially when you're not even around when it's ringing half of the time. But she cannot ignore you when you're right in front of her‑"

"Dov-," Holly tried to interrupt him, but he cut her off.

"I know, I know she can. But she won't, because it's you and she misses you. Like crazy. Cuddling pink elephants crazy. So you go to her, you say hello, ask her out on a date, coffee, bird watching, shopping - she likes weapons and shoes - , binge-drinking, whatever you girls do for- well, for fun. _Something, anything_-"

"Dov, stop! It's not that easy. I'm seeing someone."

"Is it Gail?"

"No."

"Then you're seeing the wrong person."


End file.
